Being B2B social: A conversation with Maersk Line’s head of social media
Being B2B social: A conversation with Maersk Line’s head of social media
The container shipping giant with operations in 125 countries came to the attention of the social network after winning the European Digital Communication Award in September for the “Social Media Campaign of the Year”, which was praised as an example for other B2B companies to follow. In less than 11 months the Danish company was able to attract more than 400,000 fans on Facebook and establish an extensive presence on other platforms.
The right mix of channels:
“We have been very explorative,” says Klavs Valskov, Director of Communication. “Being on social media is about trying different channels out.” Maersk Line operates nine with Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter at the center of its strategy.
Google+ Hangouts are used to hold smaller press briefings when the company is launching new initiatives.
The communication team uses Facebook to reach out to followers which include NGOs, employees, potential employees, competition, suppliers, regulatory bodies and a surprisingly large crowd of shipping nerds. Seven thousand of Maersk Line's 25,000 employees are seafarers and Facebook has become an important channel for them to connect with colleagues, people at home, and follow what the company is up to. They are very proud to be sailing on big blue ships and love to tell people about it. They publish tons of pictures from their every day work.
Turning bloggers into tweeters:
Twitter has become an important part of Maersk Line’s media relations strategy. They have a lot of journalists following them and they can see that they download their press releases from Twitter. The Danish trade press has been quite intrigued by the fact that a traditional shipping company has embraced social media with such conviction. Maersk Line has ten official tweeters, which include the chief commercial officer, the head of anti-piracy and business managers. At the start, they gave them advice on whom
The container shipping giant with operations in 125 countries came to the attention of the social network after winning the European Digital Communication Award in September for the “Social Media Campaign of the Year”, which was praised as an example for other B2B companies to follow. In less than 11 months the Danish company was able to attract more than 400,000 fans on Facebook and establish an extensive presence on other platforms.
The right mix of channels:
“We have been very explorative,” says Klavs Valskov, Director of Communication. “Being on social media is about trying different channels out.” Maersk Line operates nine with Google+, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter at the center of its strategy.
Google+ Hangouts are used to hold smaller press briefings when the company is launching new initiatives.
The communication team uses Facebook to reach out to followers which include NGOs, employees, potential employees, competition, suppliers, regulatory bodies and a surprisingly large crowd of shipping nerds. Seven thousand of Maersk Line's 25,000 employees are seafarers and Facebook has become an important channel for them to connect with colleagues, people at home, and follow what the company is up to. They are very proud to be sailing on big blue ships and love to tell people about it. They publish tons of pictures from their every day work.
Turning bloggers into tweeters:
Twitter has become an important part of Maersk Line’s media relations strategy. They have a lot of journalists following them and they can see that they download their press releases from Twitter. The Danish trade press has been quite intrigued by the fact that a traditional shipping company has embraced social media with such conviction. Maersk Line has ten official tweeters, which include the chief commercial officer, the head of anti-piracy and business managers. At the start, they gave them advice on whom